1). Field of Invention
This invention relates to dressing large animals, wild and domestic, and more particularly to a tool having a bladed lever for cutting through or splitting bones.
2). Related Art
The dressing of animals, particularly the field dressing of large animals, such as for example deer and elk, can be both dangerous and time consuming. A typical approach for field dressing large animals, using deer as an illustrative example, includes the following steps:
The hind legs of the deer are propped open and the head of the deer is typically placed at a higher level than the rear end of the deer. A shallow cut is made with a clean knife at the bottom of the breastbone. Thereafter, the body cavity is opened. This is done by using a knife that is placed within the first cut with the blade facing upwards. Two fingers of the hand not holding the knife are inserted into the cut to guide the knife while cutting or slitting the hide of the deer. The fingers of the hand not holding the knife push the entrails away from the blade and guide the knife as the incision is made along the midline of the deer from the breastbone to the pelvis. Next the reproductive organs are removed and the skin is cut from the pelvis to the anus. Additionally, the skin and muscle is cut from the bottom of the breastbone to the brisket or jaw. These cuts expose the pelvic bone and the rib cage, both of which need to be cut to provide access to the inner cavity of the animal. The rib cage is then split at the breastbone by cutting through the breastbone with a knife. On older animals and large animals it is sometimes necessary to use a small saw to split the rib cage at the breastbone. The pelvic bone is split with a saw. The entrails are removed and the inside of the deer is cleaned out, with the rib cage and pelvic bone having been split.
The most dangerous step in this process is splitting the rib cage with a knife and the splitting of the pelvic bone with a saw, knife or axe. Often times a saw or axe is not available so that the pelvic bone is also split using a knife. Severe injury has been caused to hunters using a knife to split either the rib cage or the pelvic bone; sometimes the injury has resulted in death. There is a definite safety consideration in using knives in dressing an animal.